New Car and Ham Radio Install

Well, switched out cars today--dad took my old Dodge Neon, I get his old Camry. Not a bad trade overall, and while I owe him some money for it, it's a nice deal. Anyway, of course the first thing I want to do as soon as I have it is throw all my radio gear back in.

My last car ('05 Neon) was a pain to install my radio--running the power back to the battery took much work with a coathanger and patience. This time, the story was quite different. Toyota got a couple things right with the Camry. First, the grommet holding the wiring in place was actually very easy to move out of the way, letting me slide my power cable through, and they gave plenty of room to work in the engine compartment. Then, routing the cables inside the car was very friendly, too--only needed a screwdriver to pop off one cover, and the rest of the paneling was toolless removal. They gave plenty of space to route more cables, including clips to hold things in place. Overall result was a very professional-looking install, with only a tiny bit of wire showing.

Anyway, enjoy a few pictures of the car, and some of my own handiwork after the break.